On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of
Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina decided to limit the ability of institutions of higher education to consider an applicant’s race in and of itself as a factor in deciding whether to admit an applicant. In September 2023, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released a guide for colleges and universities to increase diversity and opportunity in light of the Court’s decision. The DOE report reviewed strategies that institutions can implement to advance diversity in higher education, such as:
• Establishing targeted outreach programs.
• Reimagining holistic admissions to give greater emphasis to
considerations of adversity and resilience and less to
considerations of privilege.
• Increasing investments in need-based aid and in institutions
that serve diverse students.
• Expanding completion and campus climate programming.
Berea College’s holistic recruiting and admissions process, along with strategies for enhancing student experience, has been actively engaging in these strategies for decades, putting Berea in a positive position after the Supreme Court‘s decision was made. The articles linked below touch on each of the recommended areas and showcase Berea’s distinctive recruitment and admissions process through the experience of Berea’s students.
“For higher education to be an engine of equal opportunity, upward mobility and global competitiveness, we need campus communities that reflect the beautiful diversity of our country,” said Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. “The strategies in this report can enable institutions to advance equal opportunity and the promise of social mobility.”
